Many Blues fans were happy to see Matic go, even if they were less impressed that he was reuniting with Jose Mourinho. They believed that the proposed axis of N’Golo Kante and £40m new boy Tiemoue Bakayoko would take the Blues on

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By Neil Custis

1st November 2017,11:49 pm

THE acid test will come on Sunday — and Chelsea fear Nemanja Matic will be returning to bite them.

Serbian enforcer Matic was a surprise summer casualty as Antonio Conte cashed in on the £40million two-time champion by letting him join Manchester United.

Nemanja Matic has been Jose Mourinho’s midfield barrier for Manchester United this season

Many Blues fans were happy to see Matic go, even if they were less impressed that he was reuniting with Jose Mourinho.

They believed that the proposed axis of N’Golo Kante and £40m new boy Tiemoue Bakayoko would take the Blues on.

Fast forward three months and Matic returns to Stamford Bridge this weekend as the driving force of Mourinho’s Red Devils, while the void at the heart of the Chelsea midfield was brutally exposed by Roma.

Matic, 29, has become the protective cloak of a United backline that has been breached only five times in 14 Prem and Champions League games.

Nemanja Matic has been a settling influence in front of the Manchester United defence

And as Blues keeper Thibaut Courtois admitted they were missing the “balance” he provided, Matic suggested it was time the Chelsea supporters who sent him on his way without regret began to recognise what they had lost.

Matic said: “I spent a good time there, 3½ years, which is a long time.

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“It’s going to be something special for me to play again in that stadium.

“When I played there I always gave 100 per cent and we won two titles together and won a cup.

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“That is one of the poorest decisions I’ve ever seen in the Premier League. If you ask any of those Chelsea players who they would want back, they would say Matic.”

Keeper Courtois, who stood between the champions and a humiliating pummelling in Italy, seemed to agree, saying: “We know Nemanja’s qualities. Last year he gave us the balance but decided to go to another team, so we won’t live in the past.